Portugal Premier Offers to Resign as Allies Quit

The Social Democrats quit Portugal’s coalition government Thursday in a dispute over economic policy and presidential elections, and Mario Soares, the Socialist prime minister, offered to resign.

Soares, 66, spoke on national television after the evening news. He said President Antonio Ramalho Eanes should dissolve Parliament and call elections.

The Social Democrats announced June 4 that they would pull out of the two-year-old coalition but said they would wait until Portugal became a member of the European Economic Community. The treaty admitting both Portugal and Spain was signed Wednesday.

“I have told the president I propose to resign as prime minister to facilitate the least costly solution for the nation,” said Soares, who led two earlier governments that fell for lack of a parliamentary majority. He met with Eanes for 45 minutes earlier in the day.

The prime minister said the current makeup of Parliament “clearly makes it impossible to sustain any consistent majority.”

Communists, Rightists

Apart from the Social Democrats, the only parties in the 250-seat chamber that could produce a majority by combining with the 101 Socialist seats are the Communists and rightist Christian Democrats.

Soares has consistently refused to ally his moderate party with the pro-Soviet Communists. One of his earlier governments was an unsuccessful partnership with the Christian Democrats.

He said he did not resign outright because he would not permit “a vacuum in government.” He said he would formalize the offer only after Eanes has chosen a political course.

A statement from the president’s office said Eanes will meet with Social Democratic leaders today, “continuing his consultations prior to deciding on a solution for the present crisis.”

His decision is not expected before next week, presidential spokesman Eduardo Duarte Fidalgo said after the meeting with Soares.

“The president is scheduled to meet with the council of state, and will not announce his plans before then,” he said in a telephone interview.

President’s Options

Eanes can accept a resignation from Soares or reject it, permitting the Socialists to form a minority government in either case. He also could dissolve Parliament and call elections, either asking the current government to serve as caretaker or appointing a new one.